


Cloud Watching

by FleetofShippyShips



Series: Prompted Harry Potter Works [47]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cloud Watching, Established Relationship, HP: EWE, M/M, Post-Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 08:43:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14132406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetofShippyShips/pseuds/FleetofShippyShips
Summary: Prompt: Bad days + cloud watching. ‘“Maybe the fresh air will help,” [name] suggested.’





	Cloud Watching

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by @ylime94. Originally posted on my [@drarryville](http://drarryville.tumblr.com) sideblog.

“Let’s go outside for a bit. Maybe the fresh air will help,” Neville suggested, already looping an arm low around Draco’s back and guiding him towards the door. 

“Unlikely,” Draco sneered, balling the paper up and tossing it to the side. There was a quiet ‘pop’ as it was banished by one of the house elves. “Go outside yourself. I noticed some weeds among the roses yesterday.”

“The roses are flawless,” Neville countered immediately, still guiding Draco out, and knowing he’d made the right call from the way Draco didn’t resist being led. “The only thing that needs work right now is your self-destructive streak.”

“Piss off,” Draco muttered, low and under his breath. He never did say it loudly. Not after the first time Neville flinched so badly at his raised voice that he broke a teacup in his hands.

“I know you know more sophisticated language than that,” Neville chided, breathing deeply as they stepped out the side door by the kitchen. A beautiful summer day.

“You can take sophisticated language and shove it up your arse,” Draco hissed softly. 

Neville sighed. Gently, he tightened his grip around Draco and guided him through the decorative gardens, towards the small rise that overlooked the back pond. While he hated that Draco pandered to his skittishness around raised voices as if he was weak, he was glad that it made the bad days easier to handle. 

From what he heard from Pansy and Greg, Draco had been completely intolerable on his bad days before he and Neville had become serious. Raised voices had been the least of it then.

“I really wish you hadn’t read that article,” he said gently. “You know they’re always full of lies and prejudice.”

Draco was silent for a while, and Neville brought them to a halt at the top of the rise. The Pond was stretched out before them, reflecting the clouds.

“Some of it’s true,” Draco finally said, as he looked out over the pond as well. “It’s always about something true.”

“Let’s lie down,” Neville suggested, doing so himself. “Lots of clouds today.”

Even though he made a sound of distaste, Draco followed him to the ground. His lack of argument was a good sign. Or maybe he’d also read the article two pages earlier about Neville’s new nursery, and seen the small paragraph near the end about what a shame it was Neville was still associating with Draco Malfoy. No, Neville knew he would have read it. Draco always read anything that was printed about Neville. 

When Draco settled a good half-arm’s length away from him, Neville made a tutting sound and moved closer, until their sides were pressed together. It didn’t escape his notice that Draco had settled on his left, so Neville wouldn’t be in contact with his left arm.

“It’s better I read it and know what’s going to be hurled at me when we go out next,” Draco muttered, still defending himself.

“I doubt they’re going to dig up bits of Fenrir and throw them at us in the streets,” Neville conversationally, his eyes searching the clouds. “Oh, there’s a bunny!”

Draco released a breath through tightly clenched teeth. A long hissing sound. “I hate when you do that.”

“There’s a lightning bolt over there if you prefer, but I know you still have that stick up your arse about Harry, so—”

“I’m not being ridiculous.”

Neville waited a beat, so Draco’s own words would sink in a little first. “You are. You know, I know, everyone that matters to you knows that you didn’t have any idea they’d bring him through that night. Even the public knows, if they care to remember. It’s a matter of record. The transcripts of your hearing are available to anyone who cares to look now, or cares to remember them from when they were leaked into the papers the day of your hearing.”

“Who in their right mind would want to remember the details when it’s so much easier to slander me in the papers? I already paved the fucking way for them myself with every stupid thing that—” Realising his voice had risen, Draco cut himself off abruptly and sucked in a deep breath.

Neville let him breathe for a few moments. “Do you think that cloud looks like daffodil? Or is that just me?” he asked, pointing to a cloud that had no shape whatsoever.

Draco snorted softly. “You are ridiculous.”

“Takes one to know one, love,” Neville murmured back. “The papers will always print garbage about you. They’ll always take a grain of truth and twist it to their narrative when there is no other news to be written about. You need to stop reading when you see your name.”

There was a long silence of angry breathing, but Neville waited patiently. He knew the words Draco wanted to say. The only reason he wasn’t saying them was because they’d had this conversation too many times, and now Neville just kept pointing out that he was repeating himself. Draco hated being told he was repeating himself.

“I’m too narcissistic for that,” Draco finally said. “Which is why that cloud looks like my face.”

Neville forced himself to laugh, instead of saying what he was thinking. Draco would have to love himself to be a narcissist.

“Do you want go to see your mother?” he asked instead. If there was one thing to knock Draco out of his downward spiral, it was to shift his focus to concern for his mother. 

“She’s started ordering the house elves to censor her papers and magazines,” Draco muttered. “We’re still not doing that. Don’t even think to try again.”

“Oh, I won’t,” Neville laughed. “I’m not making that mistake again. Which reminds me, we still need to replace all the mattresses in the spare rooms. Gran must have really hated all her guests.”

Draco chuckled. “I did that when you had Potter and his friends to stay that first summer I moved in.”

Even knowing he shouldn't laugh at that, Neville did. “You are such a little shit sometimes.”

“I enjoyed their slow movements and winces immensely each morning,” Draco added. “I switch out the mattresses for my friends, of course.”

Neville shook his head but couldn't help but smile. “Of course.”

“I still can’t believe you tied yourself to someone like me,” Draco said, in that falsely cheerful tone Neville hated with a passion. “It’s so completely unlike you.”

“You are so completely unlike you,” Neville countered quickly. “We need better mirrors.”

Draco exhaled loudly, an annoyed huff. “You are determined today.”

“And every day before and every day hereafter,” Neville said, curling his fingers around Draco’s hand where it lay between them. “I’ll make you happy. I promised, remember?”

Draco was silent for a while, but he shifted his hand to better grip Neville’s in return.

“You bloody Gryffindors and your promises,” he finally muttered. “Your insistence on keeping your vows messes with my ability to keep mine.”

Neville hummed and squeezed his hand. “You bad days don’t make me unhappy, Draco. I’m happy that you make it through them. I’m happy that you’re letting me help you do that. The ones in our first year together really scared me.”

Draco squeezed his hand back. “I know,” he said softly. “I’m trying.”

“You’re not trying, you’re doing,” Neville corrected. “You’re doing brilliantly.”

“I still read the damn papers,” Draco muttered. “I can’t stop myself.”

“I know,” Neville said. Really, he didn’t think Draco would ever be able to stop, but bickering about it always served to immediately derail whatever dark place the articles took him to. If Neville could get to him fast enough. He’d been lucky today. “I can’t stop myself from telling you to stop.”

Draco exhaled in a long gust, and then rolled onto his side to sprawl half over Neville.

“You were right,” he murmured. “The fresh air helped.”

Neville slid a hand into his hair and rubbed gently at his scalp. “If only I could convince you gardening would help.”

Draco snorted softly. “You’re never winning that argument. I will sit with tea and watch and mock. You’ll never get me in the dirt.”

Grinning, Neville pointedly avoided mentioning all the times he had indeed lured Draco into the dirt of the garden beds. Draco would only tell him that if it wasn’t for gardening, it didn’t count.

“Oooh,” he said instead. “There’s a cloud that looks like a ferret over there, near the one of your face.”

“You need glasses,” Draco muttered.


End file.
